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Microsoft Broadens the Xbox Game Pass Subscription Service With New Releases And Tier

It seems like the future of gaming centers more and more around streaming and digital copies every day. With physical copies of games being purchased less and less, and those physical copies often just serving as install discs before being forgotten, consoles have been trying to push their way past this cultural shift for a while now.

Microsoft made their next step towards this at E3 2019, extending and advancing their Game Pass service that they announced back in June of 2017.

For those unfamiliar, the Xbox Game Pass is a monthly service, often described as “Netflix for video games.” By paying a monthly subscription price of USD $10, users are given access to over one hundred games for the Xbox One and its predecessor, as well as a subscription to Xbox Live. Games are added regularly on a month by month basis as well, so the catalog never waivers.

These aren’t just games that you would find in the five-dollar bin at your local supermarket, either. Microsoft includes some of the most popular games available on their platforms, from the Gears of War and Borderlands series to Minecraft, Rocket League, and more. You can find a full list on Microsoft’s website.

But this has been the case since its original release in 2017. In the 2019 E3, Microsoft announced that they’ll be expanding it considerably.

Microsoft has been working to bridge Xbox and PC for a while, given that both fall under their umbrella. Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which will be coming to PC as part of its release, will be included in this pass. Gears of War 5 is intended to be included in it as well. The Xbox Game Pass won’t just have popular games anymore, now it’ll have the latest ones.

On top of that, they’re adding another tier to the service. For $15, customers can upgrade their Game Pass to Ultimate. For this, their Game Pass will include both the Xbox console games and the PC releases.

That makes it so that gamers that may have moved away from console in favor of PCs will be able to revisit their favorite franchises again. Just as much, those that may have been staying with console only for those franchises will be able to move away.

Only good can come from Microsoft bridging the gap between console and PC. Gamers will be ecstatic to be able to enjoy their favorite games while paying a fraction of the cost of a single game.

More than anything, it’ll be interesting to see how Microsoft’s competitors respond to the advancement of the Game Pass service.